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Sunday, April 14, 2013

Promises, Promises

This
is the Sunday Jukebox entry for this week, and as always, I will be
featuring a song in which we're going to have a discussion. However,
this Sunday Jukebox is going to be a little bit different, because at
first glance, it may seem more like a Thursday Diary entry.

I'll
still be talking about the band that made the song, as well as some
information on the song itself, but I'm also going to be adding a
personal confession that is linked to this song. I'll give you a
hint...it has to do with the song title.

So,
let's not wait any longer. Here's the song of the day, courtesy of
the British New Wave group, Naked Eyes.

ARTIST:
Naked Eyes

SONG:
Promises, Promises

ALBUM:
Burning Bridges

DATE
RELEASED: July 16, 1983

PEAK
POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:
#11

NOTE:
In the United States and Canada, the album title was simply “Naked
Eyes”.

Now,
you might be wondering why I have chosen this song. It certainly
isn't one of the band's most well known songs. Certainly their 1982
smash “Always Something There To Remind Me” is much better known
to the general public. Of course, in North America, this doesn't
mean much since Naked Eyes were one of those two-hit wonder bands
that seemingly disappeared as quickly as they arrived.

But,
I digress.

The
reason why I chose to do a spotlight on this song in particular is
twofold. Firstly, I actually like this song better than “Always
Something There To Remind Me”. I always got distracted by the
latter song's intro, which should have belonged to a wedding march,
or a Christmas carol. That plus the fact that almost all of the
1980s compilations I ever owned had “Always Something There To
Remind Me” included on it. I grew to loathe that song something
fierce. It didn't matter that the legendary Burt Bacharach sang it
first...by the five hundredth time I heard that song, I never wanted
to hear it again!

But,
“Promises, Promises”? Now, that is a great song (and one that
was penned by Naked Eyes themselves!). If you're lucky enough to get
the 12” version of the single, you can hear pop siren Madonna
adding vocals to the mix.

It's
also a very appropriate song given what I have to say about promises.
But, I'll get to that a little bit later.

For
now, why don't we talk a little bit about “Naked Eyes”, shall we?

The
group was formed in Bath, England in late 1981/early 1982 by two
childhood friends – Pete Byrne (vocals) and Rob Fisher (keyboards).
Prior to forming Naked Eyes, they played in a band called Neon,
which also featured Curt Smith and Roland Orzebal (who would later go
on to form the successful UK based band “Tears for Fears”).

The
band released their debut album in 1983, which peaked within the Top
40 on the Billboard 200 Charts, and their follow-up album, “Fuel
for the Fire” also had minor success as well. Though it only
managed to peak within the eighties on the Billboard 200, it did give
the band one final Top 40 hit with “(What) In The Name Of Love”,
peaking at #39 in 1984.

Shortly
after the band's second album was released, both Byrne and Fisher
went their separate ways, with Byrne relocating to the United States
and Fisher remaining in the UK. Although the duo had limited success
together as Naked Eyes, they racked up a series of solo projects
which brought them much fame.

Let's
take a look at Pete Byrne for example. He worked alongside Stevie
Wonder on his 1985 single “Part-Time Lover”, sang background
vocals for Rita Coolidge and Princess Stephanie of Monaco (Stephanie
was quite the pop star in the mid-1980s), and even wrote a song for
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen! He's currently touring using the “Naked
Eyes” name, and as recently as 2008, he reunited with other 1980s
artists ABC, Belinda Carlisle, and The Human League for an American
tour.

Rob
Fisher also had some solo success. In 1987, Fisher teamed up with
Simon Climie to form the UK based band Climie Fisher. The band had
several hits before breaking up in 1990. In 1991, he helped co-write
Rick Astley's hit single “Cry For Help”, and as the 1990s drew
to a close, he was talking about reuniting with Byrne to release a
brand new Naked Eyes album. Unfortunately, in 1999, Fisher was
diagnosed with bowel cancer, and after undergoing a surgical
procedure in an attempt to slow down the progression of the cancer,
Fisher passed away on August 25, 1999 at the age of 42.

And,
that's the story of Naked Eyes and their short-lived career.

So,
how does “Promises, Promises” tie in to a personal confession
that I will be sharing in this blog entry? Well, it has to do with
the title.

This
is an opinion piece about people who make promises...and why I have a
hard time dealing with people who always break promises in a
malicious manner.

Notice
how I said malicious.
Sometimes circumstances happen in which promises have to be broken to
prevent something bad from happening to somebody else, and sometimes
promises break all on their own to the fault of neither party. But
for people who break promises faster than this dog busts balloons?

Well, I'll be
blunt. I'm not very keen on people like that, and have made it a
mission to cut them out of my life for good.

I'm
going to be completely honest with all of you when I say this. I've
always had a bit of difficulty putting my complete and total trust in
people. It probably could explain why I haven't been in a serious
relationship with anybody, or even why I have only a few strong
friendships and connections with people. I guess in some ways, while
I've made peace with things that have happened to me, I'm still a
little guarded when it comes to what I reveal to people.

I
know it seems like a shock, given how open and honest I am within
this blog. But, typing it out and writing it down somehow seems
better than trying to talk it out in person with someone. When you
speak to people, sometimes the words don't come out the way you want
them, or they're twisted around in such a way that they lose their
meaning, or you completely forget that you even said them in the
first place. But typing it out where the words are clearly visible
means no backtracking on something that you claim you didn't say.
It's out there, clear as day, staring at you like a white elephant in
the room.

So,
I'll be the first one to say that in the past, I've picked my friends
very poorly. In elementary school in particular, I tried to be
everyone's friend, and I would do almost anything to get that
friendship. If it meant sharing my cookies at recess (in which by
'sharing', I mean, I gave them the entire hoard of cookies while I
eat the chocolate chip that remained). It it meant giving them the
answers to tests or how to spell words correctly, that's what I did.
Unfortunately, things quickly turned pear-shaped, and when I needed
something from them, they turned their backs on me and walked away.
Nice, huh?

I
also seem to recall several instances in which I was paired up with
people in school projects, and we had to work together to make sure
that the project was done well. Too often I was stuck in a group
that had people who promised to do their part in the project. All
they had to do was research the topic, or provide the visual aids, or
put together the project, and time and time again, they would shirk
the responsibility on someone else just so they didn't have to do the
work. So, ultimately what happened was that I got stuck doing all
of the work on the project. The good news was that the work that I
did on the project ended up getting good marks. The bad news is that
the people who did nothing to contribute to the project also got
those same marks.

On
one hand, that infuriated me...but looking back on it, I did have it
coming for not standing up for myself or alerting a teacher about
what was going on. But that was how I was misled into believing that
was how I kept friends. You did everything they asked, and they
would like you.

As
we all know, that's not the truth. And, deep down inside, I think I
knew it, but I was too gullible to realize it. Back when I was a
kid, I bought into the promise of friendship like a fish would to a
nice tasty worm hanging from a hook. And, I bought it hook, line,
and sinker. The so-called friends that I was trying to impress
weren't really my friends. They told me that if I helped them with
their homework (which meant me doing the work and them getting the
credit), and if I gave them things, then they would be my friend, and
sit at my table, and hang out with me after school.

Now,
some of you might be looking at this moment as though I'm taking what
a bunch of bratty kids did a little too seriously, and by all means,
you do reserve the right to have that opinion. I won't fault you for
it. But, all I'm saying is that my distrust and dislike for people
who constantly break promises was infused in me at an early age.
I've gotten a little soft as I grow older in that I am a little more
open to trusting people again, but I don't take promises at face
value anymore.

And,
this isn't just limited to grade school either. At work, I expect
people to keep their promises as well. I want them to treat me with
respect the same way that I treat them. If I agree to switch shifts
with someone, I would hope that both parties will live up to their
agreements. And, if one party fails to live up to that agreement,
then I doubt that there will be any shift trading in this or any
lifetime.

Truth
is, I've had a few co-workers burn me rather badly with promises that
they had absolutely no intention of keeping, and as a result, I
choose not to associate with them at all because I know they don't
have my best interests at heart. If anything though, it's a win-win
situation for me. I don't reveal anything to them that I don't want
known, and they're left trying to bum a ride from someone else
because they've burned their bridges.

I
guess the moral of this tale is that if you make a promise to
someone, you'd better have a really good reason for not keeping your
word. If this were the game of Survivor, one might accept the fact
that it is a game, and that breaking your word is essential for
moving ahead in the game.

But
life ain't no reality show. In the real world, there are
consequences to poor actions and broken promises. I think some
people need to realize that.